Kana Kavon

Kana Kavon has called Nashville home since 2005. Over this span of time, she has also traveled to and written about several Latin American countries. Her travel writings and poetry have appeared in newspapers, blogs, and her self-published chapbook, Born in Brazil. She is a trilingual lover of culture and arts, which is reflected in her seasonal online journal, One.Drop: Nashville Art & Kulcha. She is a founding member of the Lucille Clifton Collective and performs her poetry in venues throughout Nashville. Kana is one half of Tamarind Jam, a poetic collaboration with artist Alita Brielle Terry. Tamarind Jam infuses theatre, poetry, and rhythmic sound and movement into poetic expressions of womanhood, ethnicity, sensuality, and identity. Tamarind Jam has performed live at open mics, shows and festivals, including Women’s Work 2014 (Tennessee Women’s Theater Project) and the Sideshow Fringe Festival 2014 (Actors Bridge Ensemble).

An experienced Latin Dancer and Theatre Actress, Kana has performed with cultural and dancer troupes, Nashville Rueda and Grupo Balança. Her stage experience includes productions with the Fisk University Stagecrafters, Amun Ra Theatre, and Volunteer State Community College, and she has played in several productions, including “A Lesson Before Dying,” (Romulus Linney) “The Colored Museum,” (George C. Wolfe) “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf” (Ntozake Shange), “Well” (Ann Kron), and “Knock Me a Kiss” (Charles Smith).

Kana received B.A.s in English and Spanish from Fisk University and an M.A. in English from Tennessee State University.  She has over ten years worth of experience teaching and translating the Spanish language She has worked with youth from various backgrounds, serving as Language Arts instructor at N.I.A. House Montessori School (2011) Camp Vandy (2011), Salama Urban Ministries (2012-2013), and Fisk Mini College (2013-2014). She currently serves Nashville’s larger creative community as Community Arts Coordinator with Metro Nashville Arts Commission. In this role, she assists the management of grant and micro-funding programs.